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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273805">Throughout it all, I’m here for you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchylea/pseuds/bitchylea'>bitchylea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - School, Changed the title used to be Finding You, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Hyuuga Hinata-centric kinda, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Lonely kids, Panic Attacks, Umino Iruka Adopts Uzumaki Naruto, im so sorry but I couldn’t help myself</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:14:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,531</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchylea/pseuds/bitchylea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruhina throughout their school years together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Kindergarten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the first day of school for Naruto and the day was already going south. None of the kids wanted to play with him, they called him scary and a monster and it made Naruto want to cry and shout in anger. It wasn’t his fault he was born with sharp teeth and whisker-like birthmarks on his face. </p><p>When snack time rolled around most of the kids ran off to sit with their new friends. Hinata sat alone. Every time she tried to speak, it was difficult and she didn’t know what to do. Genma-sensei told her it was alright and it was normal for kids her age to have difficulty with speaking. </p><p>It wasn’t alright though, her father would yell at her when she stuttered and she needed to fix it however she could so he wouldn’t yell.</p><p>Hinata had noticed Naruto the minute he walked into the class. He was full of energy and had loudly told his father goodbye while Hinata on the other hand was scared. She didn’t want to leave her older cousin but Neji told her everything would be fine and gave her a pat on the head in reassurance. </p><p>She wanted to speak to Naruto. She wanted to walk with him and be friends and tell him she wasn’t scared of him. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t find the right time to go up to him because he was almost always yelling at other kids for being mean to him and she didn’t want to walk up to him when he looked so angry and hurt. Hinata thought that’d make him angry at her so she stayed quiet.</p><p>It began to snow during lunch and all the kids immediately started shouting in excitement, lunches forgotten.</p><p>Once the teachers said it was ok to go outside, the kids quickly ran out. Hinata couldn’t hold in her own excitement so she started to run towards the door only to stop when she noticed Naruto still sitting at the lunch table alone. She hesitated before walking up to Naruto.</p><p>Hinata held her hands up to her chest and started fiddling her fingers. </p><p>“Uhm... N-Naruto… a-are you going to c-come out and play?” She hoped Naruto understood her.</p><p>Naruto looked up in surprise. </p><p>“Who are you?” He asked in genuine confusion.</p><p>“I’m H-Hinata. Do you want to play outside in the snow with m-m-me?” She looked away, embarrassed.</p><p>Hinata heard Naruto gasp and quickly get up. He reached a hand out to grab hers and then started towards the door.</p><p>“Yeah! Let’s play! Do you want to go on the swings with me?!” He shouted in excitement over his shoulder.</p><p>Hinata smiled brightly.</p><p>“Y-Yes!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi!! I love these two so much... There aren't enough fanfics focusing on THEM ALONE so I decided to try to write one myself! Uh yeah I'm not the best writer but I hope you enjoy! And hopefully, my writing will get better along the way haha <br/>My Twitter is Yamivdum if anyones wants to chat with me! :)<br/>https://twitter.com/Yamivdum</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. First Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata let out a sigh of relief when she saw Naruto's name on the list of kids that would be in her 1st grade class. If Naruto wasn’t there… well she didn’t know what would happen, all she knew was that she was terrified of being separated from Naruto. She already hadn’t seen him since the end of kindergarten. </p><p>Hinata smiled quietly to herself. Naruto and her were friends, best friends if she let herself think so. She put the list under her pillow and pulled her covers over her body and shut the light. Tomorrow was the first day of 1st grade and she was excited. </p><p>When Hinata woke the next morning, she could immediately tell her father was in a bad mood. She tried her best to speak properly, her and Naruto had worked on her stutter. Being with Naruto made her feel at ease and so she spoke better with him but her father still made her feel things she couldn’t understand. The only word she had for it was fear but she knew it was deeper than that. </p><p>After a quiet and awkward breakfast with her father, Neji showed up to walk with Hinata to school. Hinata liked her cousin Neji, he was kind, strong, had pretty hair that he let her braid, and always made her feel good about herself. </p><p>With her father still watching her, she bowed to Neji in greeting instead of giving him a hug and a cheerful hello. She put her shoes on and then bowed to her father before stepping out with Neji.</p><p>Hinata and Neji talked throughout the walk and when it was time for them to split, Hinata didn’t cry or hold on to him. She was hesitant when she took a peek into the classroom and didn’t see Naruto but she quickly reminded herself he’d be there. </p><p>“Bye Neji. T-Thank you for walking with me.” Hinata waved back at him as she walked into her class</p><p>The teacher came up to greet her, she had long curly black hair and the prettiest red eyes. She introduced herself as Kurenai-Sensei and Hinata smiled and gave her own name shyly.  </p><p>Kurenai-Sensei looked like she was going to say more but got cut off by a scream from the doorway.</p><p>“Hina-Chan!” Screamed Naruto excitedly. </p><p>Hinata’s smile grew as she quickly turned to see Naruto.</p><p>”Naruto!”</p><p>Naruto was already running the short distance towards her. He tackled her into a hug, he was laughing and talking a mile a minute. Hinata heard a shout from the direction Naruto came from, a “Be careful with her, Naruto!” </p><p>Hinata left out a muffled laugh, face buried in the crook of Naruto's neck. </p><p>After the two settled down (with the help of Kurenai-Sensei reminding them class was about to start) they went to sit at a table together. Naruto pulled out the two empty chairs from the table and moved them to a different table and then sat down. When Kurenai-Sensei asked why he did that he said, “This table is just for me and Hina-Chan!”</p><p>Hinata liked that idea but Kurenai-Sensei gave a sigh and told Naruto he couldn’t do that and to move the chairs back. Naruto complained loudly but did as he was told. Two kids hesitantly took a seat across from Hinata and Naruto. Naruto pouted and looked away.</p><p>After a while, while Kurenai-Sensei was talking, Naruto took Hinata's hand in his and whispered, “Don’t worry, Hina. It’ll always be us together. We’re best friends and I’m never gonna leave you. That’s a promise and I keep my promises!” </p><p>Hinata felt like she could cry but instead she nodded, squeezed his hand, and smiled brightly at Naruto. </p><p>They got yelled at for talking but Hinata wasn’t upset, she was too happy to think about getting yelled at. </p><p>During recess they played in the fallen leaves, making piles and jumping in, running around and (Naruto) screaming in pure delight. After a while Hinata let herself fall back into a pile of leaves to catch her breath. Naruto ran up to her and looked down at her with a warm smile.</p><p>“You tired, Hina-Chan?” </p><p>“Yes,” Hinata huffed a small laugh.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry the ending seems cut off!!! I was having so much trouble coming up with a good ending so I just sorta ended it there... I didn't want you guys to wait much longer! Anyways I hope you enjoyed! The next few chapters are definitely going to be eventful and I'm excited to write them!! Ok, see ya :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Second Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata didn’t check the student sheet this year which was… a mistake. Her new teacher told her Naruto wasn’t in her class at all this year. She was uncomfortable now, sitting at a table with 3 kids she didn’t even recognize from last year. </p><p>There were a lot of kids in her class this year, maybe there were a lot last year, she wasn’t sure. All she could remember was Naruto and Kurenai-Sensei. All that mattered were those two and now she didn’t have either. Her new teacher seemed nice enough but she missed Kurenai-Sensei. </p><p>Naruto was loud, but it was a loud that made her feel comfortable. Her class was also loud, but instead of her finding comfort in it, she felt crowded and uneasy. </p><p>She knows it’s what normal kids do, scream and cry and just be loud in general but she hated it. Hinata has been told she’s quiet and should speak up but she doesn’t want to, not around people she doesn’t know. With Naruto she sorta opened up but even then she wasn’t loud.</p><p>She honestly didn’t think she’d ever be loud or be comfortable in areas with lots of people. </p><p>Hinata missed Naruto... She never got the chance to see him during summer break because she was so busy and she really didn’t think her father would let her see Naruto anyways so she never brought him up.</p><p>She thought of him a lot during her break though. Hinata talked for hours about the things Naruto and her did when Neji was in her room and they were supposed to be doing work. Neji hasn’t met Naruto yet but Hinata was hoping they’d meet soon.</p><p>She shifted in her seat, and looked up. Oh. The teacher had been trying to get her attention.</p><p>“Hinata, the answer?” Her teacher questioned impatiently.</p><p>Hinata panicked, what answer? To what? She hadn’t been listening, how should she know? She looked around, everyone was looking at her. </p><p>“Uhm.. uh-”Her throat felt like it was closing, oh god what was the question? </p><p>“It’s 22!” Someone called out in frustration, probably from not being picked when they had raised their hand.</p><p>Hinata’s stomach turned, and her throat felt full. She felt even worse after her classmate spoke over her. She wanted to go to the nurse, she felt sick, like she was going to throw up. But… she didn’t want to raise her hand.. Naruto would’ve asked for her, Naruto would’ve asked to go to the nurse himself if he needed to. </p><p>That thought gave her some courage and so she raised her hand quickly before she could think about it anymore. The teacher caught sight of her hand quickly and asked her what she needed. </p><p>Everyone turned to look at Hinata again and she started to get nervous, she whispered, “...T-The..nurse…” Hinata watched as her teacher's face morphed to confusion. She hadn’t heard.</p><p>“What was that, Hinata?” </p><p>Hinata shifted in her seat and looked down, “I need… I need to go to the nurse.. p-please..” her voice shook slightly.</p><p>Her teacher stared at Hinata for a few seconds before sighing and nodding, “okay, just take the pass with you.” she made a lazy wave with her hand towards the direction of where the pass was.</p><p>Hinata shot from her seat, grabbed the pass on the little table next to the teachers desk and quickly walked out of the room. She already knew where the nurses room was, she’d been there more times than she could count. This was the first time she’s asked to go herself though. Most of the time, she’d get called down or she’d just tell Naruto and he’d ask for her but, Naruto wasn’t in her class this year.</p><p>As Hinata paced down the hall, she slowed when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. She looked back and realized she’d passed an open door that belonged to another classroom. In the entryway stood Naruto, Hinata recognized it as the spot kids usually stood in when they were in trouble. But of course, Naruto simply smiled brightly and waved at her like it wasn’t a big deal.</p><p>“Hina-Chan! Where have you been? Why aren’t you in my class?!” Naruto walked up to her, without caring about staying in the spot he was probably supposed to stay in. </p><p>Hinata’s shoulders relaxed slightly, “Naruto… oh, I’m in a different class.” She turned her head slightly towards the direction of her classroom.</p><p>“What? Seriously?! No way!” Naruto’s eyebrows knitted together before he suddenly looked like he remembered something important, “Hina-Chan you have to come to my class! There’s this really cool girl named Sakura-chan! She’s the best! She has pretty pink hair! Pink hair! Can you believe it? You have to meet her!” He took Hinata’s hand in his and pulled her towards the classroom door.</p><p>“Uhm, Naruto…” Hinata let go of his hand, she was supposed to be going to the nurse, she couldn’t visit Naruto's class even if she wanted to, which she kind of did. She of course wanted to be with Naruto. </p><p>Naruto stopped, turned to face Hinata, and then cocked his head to the side, “What’s up, Hina-Chan? Are you going somewhere?”</p><p>“I was just going to the nurse…” Hinata fiddled with the little nurse's pass in her hand as she watched Naruto’s reaction. Once he saw the nurse’s pass in her hands, Naruto’s eyes lit up in recognition.</p><p>“Oh! Is it your stomach again? Want me to walk you there?” Naruto immediately started walking in the opposite direction he was going before and grabbed one of Hinata’s hands as he passed her. </p><p>Hinata followed Naruto towards the nurse with a slight smile. “Aren’t you supposed to stay at the door, Naruto?” </p><p>Naruto laughed, “Yeah, but they won’t notice I’m gone and besides, you gotta get to the nurse!” </p><p>Hinata’s smile widened. Her stomach didn’t hurt anymore and she didn’t feel like she couldn’t breathe. She felt good.</p><p>As they took the short walk down to the nurse, they talked about mostly random things until Naruto started talking about what him and his dad did over the summer. Apparently Naruto’s dad got a job as a swimming instructor and so Naruto got to swim all summer long.</p><p>“What’d you do, Hina-Chan?” </p><p>Hinata frowned slightly. “oh, um, my dad had me study with my cousin Neji for most of the summer and I also spent a lot of time at my family’s dojo…” Her father had finally decided she was old enough to train at the dojo her family owned and Hinata hated it there. She bruised easily and always hesitated when going up against someone which usually caused her to lose. Her father wasn’t happy with her whenever she lost. </p><p>She shook her head and smiled up at Naruto, “it wasn’t that fun to be honest… but now that I’m thinking about it, you’d probably like the dojo, Naruto.” </p><p>Naruto’s mouth made a little o and his eyes widened comically. “What? A dojo?! Like, where you fight n stuff? That sounds awesome! I didn’t know you did that sorta thing, Hina-Chan.” </p><p>“My dad wants me t-” Hinata jumped slightly at the voice that interrupted her. </p><p>“Naruto!” </p><p>Hinata turned to look over her shoulder and immediately she noticed pink hair… This was who Naruto was talking about...</p><p>Sakura walked up to them quickly and pointed a finger at Naruto, “Naruto! You're not supposed to leave! What are you doing? Yamato-Sensei made me come out and get you, you’re so annoying!” She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. </p><p>Naruto whined, “Sakura-Chan! I’m taking Hina-Chan to the nurse! I’ll be back soon.” </p><p>Sakura’s green eyes turned to Hinata. Hinata looked down and shifted slightly more towards Naruto. </p><p>“Oh, yeah! Hina-Chan, this is Sakura-Chan! She’s really cool. Sakura-Chan, this is Hina-Chan! She’s my best friend so you can’t be mean to her!” Naruto put a hand up against his waist like he was scolding Sakura. </p><p>“Why would I be mean to her?! I'm not mean to girls! And you won’t leave me alone of course I’m annoyed at you!” Sakura shifted her weight from one foot to another before grabbing Naruto’s arm and pulling him towards her. “Now let’s go! Yamato-Sensei is waiting!”</p><p>“Ugh! Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Naruto turned to Hinata, “I gotta go Hina-Chan! The nurses is only one more door down so you’ll be ok, right?” </p><p>Hinata frowned a bit before nodding. “Yeah, thanks for walking with me Naruto…” </p><p>Naruto smiled, “Of course! Let’s talk later, yeah?” </p><p>“Okay…” Hinata waved and watched Naruto be dragged off before turning towards the nurses office and walking inside.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>AAAAA SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG??? bruh I finally decided to go back to school so I had to catch up on so much work :( but!! The chapter is out now so that’s all that matters :D also 1k words this chapter??? Kinda proud of myself! Anyways hope you enjoyed!!! &lt;3<br/>My Twitter is Yamivdum if anyones wants to chat with me! :)<br/>https://twitter.com/Yamivdum</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Third Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a quick warning if you’re sensitive like myself, Hinata experiences a little panic attack in this chapter which starts at “She took a deep breath” and ends at “ “Hinata, are you okay?”<br/>Hope you enjoy! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata’s half way through 3rd grade and she hasn’t seen much of Naruto. She doesn’t share recess or lunch with him and so she sits by herself at lunch and usually sits in the nurse's office during recess. She sometimes can hear Naruto shout in the hallways when his class is going to lunch and that makes her smile but that’s about it. </p><p>She can’t get herself to talk to any kids in her class and no one tries to approach her, so she's kind of accepted it. Hinata has accepted that she won’t make any friends. She’s still lonely, though. </p><p>Her uncle passed and now Neji isn’t talking to her. They don’t even walk to school anymore since Neji has moved into middle school. She misses him, even though he’s mad at her. She sort of understands why he’s angry. But she doesn’t really understand why his anger is being directed at her. </p><p>Hinata has come to realize that getting lost in her thoughts helps her stay calm. It’s easy, it’s easy to get lost and not think about her surroundings. To not think about the kids next to her who are constantly screaming back and forth and making a mess of the table she sits at. It’s easy to not think about anything.</p><p>The bad part about this is when she’s so out of it she doesn’t realize someone is talking to her. She’s gotten yelled at by her father for not answering when he speaks and she’s been called weird by kids when they apparently had asked her a question and she didn’t respond. She doesn't know exactly where her mind goes but it’s a comforting place and so she doesn’t care much when kids call her weird. Getting yelled at still makes her cry, though. </p><p>Sometime in the middle of the day Hinata’s teacher had a student pass out a test, Hinata doesn’t remember what’s supposed to be on the test. When she gets hers and looks down at it, her stomach immediately drops. She was good at most subjects, she actually excelled in almost every single one except, math. Written on her paper were multiplication problems. To most kids they were considered easy problems but with Hinata, she just couldn’t wrap her head around it. Naruto had once mentioned to her that math was his favorite and that really surprised Hinata. Unlike herself, Naruto struggled when it came to reading and writing and excelled at math.</p><p>She took a deep breath and picked up her pencil from her desk. Hinata knew the test would get more difficult after each question but she couldn’t keep herself from panicking. She was on the 8th question when all the words and numbers on the page started to jumble together. None of this made sense, the feeling she had in her, she felt like it was the reason she couldn’t understand. It wouldn’t let her. Instead, her throat started to feel full and her stomach churned. </p><p>She tried to breathe and calm herself but when she thought about breathing it just made her panic, she felt like she couldn’t remember how to breathe correctly and her stomach hurt even more. Her lungs felt empty, her eyes began to sting with the build up of tears. </p><p>She dropped her pencil down onto the desk and clasped her hands together. She leaned over, head pressed to her clasped hands and tried harder to breathe. She felt like she wasn’t breathing at all at this point. Hot tears rolled off her face and onto her arms. Hinata was so upset at herself, she didn’t understand the feeling in her body. </p><p>“Hinata, are you okay?” Her teacher's voice called directly next to her head, Hinata startled and looked up, face stained with tears. </p><p>Her teacher noticed her tears immediately. “What’s wrong?” </p><p>Hinata quickly ducked her head and wiped at her tears with her sleeve, “nothing…” she picks up her unfinished test with shaky hands and handed it to the teacher, “I’m done…”</p><p>The teacher glanced down at her test in her hands before looking back at Hinata, “Okay.” Her teacher walked off to another student's desk after that and Hinata takes a breath. </p><p>She rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes with a shaky sigh. She was tired.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura-chan! Want to sit with me at lunch?” The girl in question looked over at Naruto and rolled her eyes. Naruto had been trying to get her attention since they first met the year before. Sakura didn’t want to play or hang out with Naruto, he was a boy and boys were gross. </p><p>“I’m sitting with Ino.” She was nice enough to at least give Naruto a reply and not ignore him. Nobody deserved to be ignored, not even boys. Sakura moved away from Naruto to grab at Ino’s arm, Ino smiled and waved to Naruto as both girls walked further down the hall. “See ya, Naruto.” </p><p>Naruto whined, “agh! Sakura-chan! C’mon!” He followed after the girls and the rest of the class to lunch. As they walked they passed by other classes, some the same grade as Naruto and others lower grades. Naruto peered into most of the open doors and in one of them, he spotted Hinata. He was just about to call out to her when his teacher yelled for him to hurry up. Naruto caught sight of Hinata looking over before he was dragged to catch up with the class.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry no naruhina interactions! Hopefully next chapter which I’m going to try my best to post on Christmas!! &lt;3 <br/>My Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yamivdum</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Fourth Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Said I was going to update on Christmas but I was too excited so uhh early Christmas gift..? :) hope you enjoy!! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata had given up on checking the student sheet before the school year started. So when Hinata walked into her 4th grade class for the first time that year, she was surprised. </p><p>The first thing she noticed was Naruto jumping up and down in front of two desks with the names, Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga written on cards sitting on the two desks next to each other. She was so shocked that she just stood at the doorway for what felt like a year. </p><p>Naruto turned and locked eyes with Hinata. His face brightened like the sun, so warm and full of life, “Hina-Chan!” He ran the short distance to Hinata and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a crushing hug. “Hina-Chan! We’re finally in the same class!!” He pulled his face away to look at Hinata, eyes full of happiness.</p><p>“Naruto, it’s good to see you.” Hinata says. I missed you, she thinks.</p><p>“Yeah! I missed you Hina-Chan!” Hinata takes a moment to appreciate Naruto and how he just says whatever's on his mind. Naruto grabs her hand and pulls her towards their assigned table. “Look! Hina-Chan we get to sit next to each other!” He pointed to the little cards with their names on it.</p><p>Hinata looks, and she smiles, relieved. She gets to be in Naruto’s class again. And her assigned seat is right next to his. </p><p>“Okay you two. Class is starting so take your seats.” Hinata looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, it was Kurenai. Hinata could never forget about her favorite teacher, the one that made her most comfortable back in 1st grade other than Naruto. </p><p>Hinata gasped in excitement and smiled brightly. “Kurenai-Sensei!” The teacher smiled softly as Hinata closed the short distance between student and teacher and wrapped her small arms around Kurenai’s legs. Kurenai put a careful hand on top of Hinata’s head. “It’s good to see you, Hinata.” </p><p>Things were already better than last year, Hinata thought with a wobbly smile hidden from the rest. She felt like she could cry but instead she nodded to Kurenai and pulled away to sit down with Naruto. </p><p>Once she sat down next to her best friend, Naruto bumped his shoulder against her own and Hinata looked at him in surprise only for him to look at her with his toothy smile. He was practically vibrating with excitement and Hinata couldn’t help but giggle and push back at his shoulder with her own. The push caused Naruto to fall out of his chair and Hinata quickly jumped to apologize but Naruto just laughed on the ground, his sports headband slightly crooked in his hair but his smile still as happy and genuine as before. </p><p>Hinata smiled down at him and watched as he got up to get back onto his chair. </p><p>Hinata really did try to focus on the work she was given later on but Naruto was such a big distraction. She wanted to play and talk with him, school was really the only chance she got and even then they could be separated again next year. </p><p>Naruto was also very insistent when it came to wanting Hinata’s attention. He whined and poked at Hinata’s beige sweater multiple times throughout the day, he would say random things under his breath and Hinata would have to stifle her laughter. </p><p>Hinata had to convince Naruto to do his work, after he realized he wouldn’t be able to play at recess, he immediately went to doing his multiplication problems and even went so far as to help Hinata. </p><p>After they finally finished most of their school work, it was time for lunch and so all the kids got up and formed a line at the doorway before heading out to the cafeteria. Of course, Naruto and Hinata were right next to each other in line and they (mostly Naruto, Hinata swears) were messing around quietly in the halls. </p><p>They were talking in whispered voices and Naruto was going on about things he did during the summer and Sakura because they saw each other during summer break apparently. Hinata was glad Naruto had a good summer. Instead of answering when Naruto asked about her summer, she casually pointed out a funny drawing hung up on the wall they were passing and Naruto burst out in laughter, quickly forgetting about his question. </p><p>Once they got to the cafeteria, they had to form another line to grab their lunch. When they both got up to the food Naruto nudged Hinata and she looked over. “Ne, Hina-Chan should I get the fish dish or the chicken dish? ’Ruka said I could get whatever cuz we got the money but now I can’t decide!” Hinata went to take a tray with fish, rice, miso soup and a variety of vegetables. “I usually get the fish, if that’s what you like, Naruto..” </p><p>He hummed in thought and then grabbed a fish tray. “Alright! Since you like fish, I’m sure it’ll be good! I’ve never had the fish tray before.” Naruto smiled down at his tray of food and followed Hinata to the drink cart. “Naruto, tea or milk?” Hinata asked as she grabbed for a milk. </p><p>“No juice?” </p><p>“Naruto, they haven’t served us juice since kindergarten..” </p><p>“I’m hoping it comes back… just gimme milk, tea is bleh!” Naruto took the milk carton that was passed to him with a pout. They sat at a table together with a few other kids joining them. They talked and ate their food, Naruto liked the fish a lot even though he did say it was a little bland which Hinata agreed to.</p><p>It’s school food. Of course it’s not the best. She told him to mix it with the rice and after some complaints, Naruto did and his expression went from disgusted and suspicious to delighted. “It’s better! Hina-Chan it’s better with the rice!” </p><p>“That’s what I told you, Naruto.” Hinata smiled and continued to eat her own food. </p><p>Apparently they’d be sharing recess with the 5th graders because of some mishap that happened earlier in the day. Naruto didn’t seem to care about the older kids joining but Hinata was kind of nervous.</p><p>Once outside, Hinata forgot about her nerves and the two played a few games.</p><p>“Hina-Chan can you go get the jump rope?” Naruto was on the blacktop drawing something with his orange chalk. </p><p>“Sure, I’ll be right back!” Hinata ran off in the direction of where she thought the rope would be, leaving Naruto to do whatever he was doing. </p><p>One minute, Naruto was leaning on his knees on the blacktop, one hand supporting his upper body and the other drawing with the orange stick of chalk. And the next, Naruto’s back was against the blacktop and his hands were scraped, chalk dropped just a few inches away from him. </p><p>Quickly, Naruto looked up. Three idiot 5th graders were laughing at him. He watched as one of them kicked his chalk, it cracked into two and flew across the blacktop. “Hey!” Naruto got to his feet and stared up at them in anger. “What’s wrong with you?!” The older kids were standing right on top of Naruto’s drawing.</p><p>“He really does have whiskers!” One of them commented, ignoring Naruto’s question.</p><p>“He’s acting like an animal. It makes sense.” </p><p>“What’re you even doing in school? Shouldn’t you be in a cage?” </p><p>“Shut up!” Naruto shouted, tears forming in his eyes. </p><p>One of them went to shove at Naruto but Hinata had come back, rope forgotten, and quickly went in between the bullies and Naruto. “W-what’re yo-you g-guys– doing? L–Leave Naruto alone..!” </p><p>There was a pause.</p><p>The kids burst out in laughter. “The animal and the s-s-stutter!” The kid mocked Hinata’s stutter with a laugh. </p><p>“You guys are losers!” The tallest of the three snickered. He shoved at Hinata and with a weak cry she hit the pavement with Naruto following after her. “Hina-Chan!” </p><p>Hinata fell hard, her knees and palms ached. Her bottom lip trembled, she was crying. She knows she was crying because when she lifted herself up onto her knees she saw droplets of water and blood. She was bleeding? Where? She brought a trembling hand up to her face. Now she was panicking helplessly on the ground.</p><p>Naruto watched Hinata struggle to get up and he was just about to turn back towards the bullies and hit them or something, anything but a teacher on duty caught sight of what was happening and quickly rushed over.</p><p>“Kids! What’s going on!?” </p><p>The three bullies looked like they were about to run off, Naruto grabbed at one of their shirt sleeves. “You’re not going anywhere! You hurt Hina-Chan! Apologize now!” </p><p>The teacher was close enough to guess what had happened, she easily recognised the three. “Boys! I just had a talk with you three not too long ago, did you learn nothing? Come on, you’re all going to the principals!” Another teacher had come along with the first, he crouched down to check on Hinata. </p><p>“Are you alright? Let’s go to the nurses to get you checked, okay?” The teacher tried to help Hinata up but she flinched away and he immediately took his hands away and waited. </p><p>Naruto was by Hinata’s side, “Hina-Chan...” he spoke softly. Hinata slowly began to rise, Naruto’s hands hovered near her body just in case she fell. </p><p>The teacher with them noticed the blood and panicked a second before realizing it was just her nose. No serious injuries, thankfully. He reached into his pocket, grabbed a tissue and carefully brought it up to Hinata’s dripping nose. </p><p>“Here. Can you hold this up to your nose while we walk to the nurses?” He asked gently.</p><p>Hinata nodded. </p><p>Naruto carefully took Hinata’s hand in his and they began walking to the nurses. He held her hand the whole way and when they finally got there, both of them were checked on.</p><p>While the nurse was cleaning up Hinata’s scrapes with antibiotics, Hinata began speaking for the first time since getting to the nurses.</p><p>“Please don’t tell my f-father I got hurt…”</p><p>The nurse looked up at Hinata’s face. No child says that. The nurse just nodded and gave Hinata a gentle smile. She’d try to look into it later.</p><p>Naruto furrowed his brows. “Huh? Hina-Chan, why don’t you want your dad to know? I tell my dad ‘Ruka when I get hurt all the time, it’s nothing to be upset about, that’s what ‘Ruka said.” </p><p>Hinata pressed her lips together to try and stop them from trembling. “I j-just don’t want him to k-know, Naruto..” her voice was shaky.</p><p>Naruto watched Hinata. He didn’t understand why she didn’t want her dad to know, maybe he’d ask Iruka when he got home. “Okay, Hina-Chan.” </p><p>Later when the nurse stepped out and they sat alone Hinata turned towards Naruto, their hands still linked. “B-By the way, Naruto... I like your whiskers. You look cool.” She brought a bandaged hand up to her own face and pointed to where Naruto’s whiskers would be and gave a small smile. </p><p>Naruto’s eyes widened. </p><p>Hinata had heard the awful things the older kids said. She wanted Naruto to know she didn’t care what he looked like.</p><p>“Yo– You are not a monster, Naruto. You couldn’t be, you're too nice...” She gave Naruto’s hand a small squeeze, hoping her message came across correctly. “It doesn’t matter what you look like… the real monsters are people like them..” She thought of her father as she said it, not really thinking about the kids.</p><p>Naruto was sniffling, Hinata watched as tears slowly spilled from his eyes and down his cheeks before he could cover his face. Instead of covering his face, he pulled Hinata into an awkward side hug, his head leaning on her small shoulder. </p><p>“Hina-Chan… You’re the best!” His voice shook, Naruto was crying. Naruto, crying. Hinata’s pale eyes widened slightly before she quickly hugged Naruto back, small tears forming in her own eyes. </p><p>They stayed there for a moment, Hinata not letting go until Naruto decided to pull away. “Thanks for that Hina-Chan.” Naruto looked up at her with a smile, face slightly red from crying, but happy. </p><p>“Of course, Naruto.” Hinata smiled, relieved.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I didn’t know until half way through writing this chapter that in Japan kids usually eat in their classrooms. I’m from America so I’m used to a cafeteria so that’s what I wrote but I did a little research on Japanese lunches and just threw that in</p><p>Also 2k words??? I’m so proud of myself. I wrote this in 3 days!! Ah I hope you all enjoyed!! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Fifth Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m looking for a beta reader if anyone’s interested!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were in the same class this year. Both Hinata and Naruto were overjoyed when they saw each other on their first day of 5th grade. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the middle of the year now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And the </span>
  <em>
    <span>best</span>
  </em>
  <span> idea came to Naruto the night before the next day of school. He didn’t know why he never thought about it before but now he was excited. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was going to ask Hinata to come over to his house after school! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Running out of his room, he barged into the kitchen where his dad, Iruka was. “‘Ruka! Can Hina-Chan come to play tomorrow after school?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka looked over his shoulder from where he was cooking dinner. “Sure, Naruto! Will she be eating with us too?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Probably! I hope she gets to stay that long.. She’s my best friend y’know!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Naruto. You’ve told me a few times.” Iruka smiled, he was glad the little girl was in Naruto’s life. Though he hadn’t officially met Hinata, Iruka knew she was a good kid. “Now come help me set the table.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Kay!” Naruto ran up to Iruka while humming quietly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Later when Naruto was being tucked into bed, he asked. “Do you think Hina-Chan could sleep over?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka paused, fingers wrapped around Naruto’s orange blanket. “I’d have to ask her parents about that one, Naruto. If they say “yes” then of course she can sleep over.” He finished pulling the blanket over Naruto and leaned down to kiss his forehead before getting up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay. Night, ’Ruka, love you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight, Naruto. Love you too.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka switched off the light and quietly left the room, leaving the door open for an easy escape in case of nightmares. Naruto watched his dad before turning over, and knocking out quickly. Instead of not being able to sleep from excitement, Naruto was exhausted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next day when Naruto walked into his class, Hinata wasn’t there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sensei! Where’s Hina-Chan?” Naruto walked up to his teacher immediately after not seeing Hinata. Hinata was </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>at school before him and if not, she should have been here before him today because he was late! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Her family called her out sick today, Naruto.” His teacher sounded annoyed, Naruto pouted and walked off to his desk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was bored without Hinata. None of the kids wanted to play with him either so he was in a bad mood the whole day. When his dad picked him up, he questioned where Hinata was and that just made Naruto even more upset.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Naruto walked into class the next day he frowned, he didn’t see Hinata.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And the next day after that, no Hinata. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the week went by without Hinata and Naruto was worried and upset.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, please eat your food and stop slouching.” They were at the dinner table and Naruto had his head on the table. He didn’t even have Hinata’s house number to call.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wanna see Hina-Chan,” he lifted his head. “Do you think she’s okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She probably caught the flu that’s been going around, she’ll be back in school in no time.” Iruka gave Naruto a reassuring smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked down at his food in thought. “Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next day when Naruto walked into class, Hinata was there. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled and ran up to her. “Hina-Chan! Where have you been?” When Naruto saw her face, he paused. Hinata’s cheek was bandaged. “Did you fall again, Hina-Chan?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She brought a hand to her cheek in confusion. “Oh, y-yeah. Yeah I hurt myself while at my family’s dojo… I’m okay.” She fiddled with the end of her shirt, hoping it would stop her hands from shaking at the thought of her bruise. “How have you been Naruto?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I was waiting for you to come back to school! Were you sick last week? Why didn’t you come to school?” Naruto took a seat next to her, they still had 10 minutes before class would start.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was sick, sorry.” She turned to take something out of her bag and then handed it to Naruto. “I got you this, you were talking about it a few weeks ago so I thought...” she trailed off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a kurama plush, they’d been sold out for a while now because of Christmas. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow! What? Hina-Chan how’d you even get this?! It’s been sold out since last month!” He grabbed the toy handed to him and stared down at it with the happiest smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, they were doing a bidding online and I bid the highest… it just came in this morning..” she didn’t mention that she used her dads’ credit card to pay for it. Or that her dad found out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow! Thanks so much Hina-Chan!” He hugged the girl before looking at the plush one last time and then put it into his backpack to keep it safe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll have to get you a gift before we go on break! Is there anything you want?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata shrugged, unsure. “Um I don’t know, anything would be nice.. but you don’t have to get me anything, Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way! I definitely gotta get you something!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiled. “Okay… I’m not sure what I’d want since I’ve never celebrated Christmas..”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at her like she was crazy before he quickly changed his expression to a smile. “Right! My dad said some people don’t celebrate because of their religion. That’s ok that you don’t know what you want! I’ll figure it out!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that the teacher told them to quiet down and then class began. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Later in the day Naruto turned to Hinata all of a sudden. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, right!” Naruto started, they were currently walking down the halls to the library. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata turned to him. “What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was going to ask you earlier in the week if you could come to my house to play! Can you come? My dad said any day is fine!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata stopped walking. “Um.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stopped as well. “What’s wrong? Can you not come?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Naruto. My father wouldn't allow me to…” She looked slightly uncomfortable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his brows and frowned in slight disappointment. “Oh.” He pulled a smile. “That’s okay, Hina-Chan. Maybe a different day you could come?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her gaze turned to the side and she shifted. “Um, maybe. I’ll have to ask my f-father…” </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next day, Naruto brought Hinata a wrapped gift. He handed it to her when they were on the swings at recess.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She took the little box handed to her and stared down at the decorative wrapping. “What is it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed. “I can’t tell you, silly! You gotta open it!” He watched her with excitement. He was also a little nervous. Naruto didn’t know if Hinata would like her gift. He even asked his dad for help and he said he didn’t know anything about that, which made no sense to Naruto. His dad still did take him to the store to help him pick it out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked back at Naruto before turning to the box and carefully unwrapping it. Naruto took the wrapping from her and she opened the little white box and gasped softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto leaned over to look inside with her. “I spent so much of my allowance on them! But it was worth it.” He said, with a fond smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two silver bracelets lay in the white cushioned box. Both had half of a heart hanging from each, one with the letter N and one H. She carefully pulled both bracelets out and clipped the hearts together to see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>N+H</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto…” her grip on the bracelets tightened slightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re friendship bracelets! Aren’t they cool?” His bright gaze turned to Hinata and Naruto watched as tears welled up in his friends' eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He panicked as the tears fell down her cheeks, “Ah! Hina-Chan, I’m sorry! Do you not like them!?” He got off his swing to get closer to Hinata and brought a hand up to her shoulder trying to comfort her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata let out a shaky giggle and brought a hand up to her face, wiping her eyes before looking up at Naruto with a gentle smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I've never gotten something like this before. Sorry, I was just– I was surprised I guess... Thank you, Naruto, I love them.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah! I’m so glad!” Naruto pulled her into a clumsy hug. Hinata almost slipped off of her swing, catching herself on one of the handles and wrapping her other arm around Naruto’s middle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed quiet for a moment before Naruto pulled back slightly. “We should put them on right now, here let me help with yours!” Hinata handed the one with the H to Naruto but he shook his head. “No! You gotta wear the one with the N on it, isn’t that how it works?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked down at the bracelets in confusion. “Uh, I don’t really know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm well we should wear each others so when we look at the bracelets we’ll be reminded of each other!” Naruto took the bracelet with his initial carved into the heart and told Hinata to bring her hand up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He brought the bracelet under Hinata’s thin wrist, and clipped it together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do mine next, Hina-Chan!” Naruto brought his hand out for Hinata and she carefully clipped the bracelet around Naruto’s wrist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Done..” Hinata said quietly as she pulled her hands away from Naruto’s wrist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both took that moment to look down at their matching bracelets, both smiling in pure delight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sat back down in the swing next to Hinata and leaned closer to her. “Let’s connect them!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both took their piece of the heart and connected them, arms touching. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perfect.” Hinata whispered, and Naruto smiled at her words and at</span>
  <em>
    <span> her</span>
  </em>
  <span> because to Naruto, this moment felt perfect. Whatever perfect was, this very moment was it. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Naruto and Hinata don’t know those bracelets are usually for ur gf/bf lol. This chapter isn’t my fav tbh. I wrote it out a bunch of times and I can’t get it how I want so I just sorta gave up.. better than nothing, right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Sixth Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Is it bad that I changed the title💀 I’ve been unhappy with the title for awhile so I changed it.. I hope that’s ok! Before it was “finding you” if anyone’s confused!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata went into middle school not expecting it to be so big. She was already a week in and she still couldn’t remember her schedule or where her classes were. She was too scared to ask any adult or elder student for help which made it worse. </p><p>She hated walking into class even a minute late, kids would immediately look to the door when it opened, probably hoping for something exciting to happen. </p><p>There were also too many kids in the halls, Hinata barely had enough room to breathe.</p><p>The bathroom was her only escape, she’d lock herself in a bathroom stall for a whole class period because she felt like she’d embarrassed herself in front of a classmate or she’d go just to collect herself, tell herself to get it together.</p><p>She’d tell herself while locked in the tiny, dirty stall to Breathe, Hinata. It’s okay, you’re okay. </p><p>If she dropped a book or two she immediately felt like everyone was judging her, looking her way, wondering why she looked so incompetent, stupid, panicked, sweaty, upset, like she was about to have a breakdown. </p><p>She got used to holding her books so tightly her hands ached. </p><p>Her hair had grown throughout elementary school and it was past her shoulders when she started middle school. She liked having long hair, she felt safe. She started failing a class, though. Because of all the times she skipped a class and so her father had her chop it all off again. </p><p>She cried that night, long chunks of black hair thrown in the garbage. </p><p>Hinata hated gym. She really desperately did but it was the only class she shared with Naruto. She had gym class everyday, it was her last class before she had to walk home. </p><p>She still wore her bracelet that Naruto gifted her, Naruto did too. Even though they were both supposed to take it off during gym, they both wore it. </p><p>Naruto, unlike Hinata, was having a blast during his first year of junior high. He shared most of his classes with Sakura and this new student Sasuke who Naruto deemed his rival. Him and Naruto fought constantly in class, Sakura getting in the middle more times then she could count. </p><p>Other than Sasuke, Naruto made a bunch of new friends. He sorta became a friend magnet since he stepped foot in the school for the first time. </p><p>Sometimes the attention was too much for Naruto though. He wasn’t used to it and occasionally he just wanted to be alone or he was actually trying to focus in class because he did care about his grades, no matter what anyone said and people would bother him or make fun of him! </p><p>They’d laugh and bother him while he was trying to work. He never snapped, not once. He didn’t want to get in trouble. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Iruka. Usually, Rock Lee, the kid who sat next to him would go off on the others for him.</p><p>He’d quickly rise and yell, “Naruto-Kun is trying to work! Let him be!” And the kids would usually back off because even though Rock Lee was a proper student, he knew how to throw a punch. His dad was one of the gym teachers, it made sense. </p><p>Naruto quickly memorized where all the classrooms were, mostly because his dad knew the building well and made sure to explain it to him over and over again. So Naruto became the kid everyone goes to for directions, he was happy to help even if they interrupted him while he was talking to a friend in the hallways. </p><p>He never saw Hinata in the halls, he guessed she was just in a different section of the school because he knew Hinata was smarter than him. With all the extra classes Hinata had to take after school during elementary school and during the summer no wonder she was smart. An idiot could figure out Hinata was intelligent.</p><p>At first, Naruto was upset Hinata wasn’t in his classes but once he spotted Hinata across the gym, in yoga pants, her big purple sweater and the silver bracelet he gifted her around her wrist he was happy. One class with Hinata was better than none. </p><p>He had immediately tried to get her attention since the teacher didn’t let him run over to her. He bounced on his feet and waved at her until she looked up and spotted him. Her face exploded red with embarrassment and yeah Naruto guessed he was being a bit embarrassing so he quickly stopped waving and just smiled her way.</p><p>Now, a month into middle school, Naruto was walking with some of his friends to the gymnasium. </p><p>“Hey, Naruto-kun! Are you gonna join any of the after school sports clubs? I hear the track team is recruiting!” Rock Lee asked while he walked with Naruto and Kiba.</p><p>“The rugby team is also recruiting and I’m thinkin’ about joining!” Kiba said. </p><p>Naruto looked up in thought, “Well, I’m not sure. I’m already in a few clubs and Lee I thought you were joining the judo club.” </p><p>“I am!”</p><p>“What? Why didn’t you tell us?!” Kiba interrupted Lee and turned to Naruto in confusion. “What clubs?” </p><p>“I’m in the yearbook club, the teen social justice club, and the chess club as of now. I guess I could join a sports club.” </p><p>“Chess club? You?” Kiba asked in suspicion.</p><p>Naruto shrugged his shoulder. “I joined the club so Shikamaru would because I know he’s been looking at the posters hung up around school, he was just too lazy to find the dang classroom so I went with him. Anyways, it’s actually a pretty fun game.”</p><p>“Damn.” Kiba corrected.</p><p>Naruto gave him a look. “Dang.” </p><p>“You can swear man. We’re in middle school, we’re not kids!” </p><p>“My dad said swearing is stupid and it means you have a low vocabulary.” Naruto answered with a frown.</p><p>“Yes! Swearing is not very youthful of you!” Lee shouted suddenly.</p><p>“Damn isn’t even a swear word!” Kiba shot back.</p><p>Sasuke heard the end of the trio’s conversation and walked over to them to make a comment, “Naruto’s a daddy’s boy, he won’t swear unless his dad tells him he can.” </p><p>“Hey! I’m not a daddy’s boy, what the hell, Sasuke?!” </p><p>“Naruto! You just swore!” Kiba said in disbelief.</p><p>“What? Hell’s a place!” Naruto blushed in embarrassment. </p><p>“Ha! You look pretty guilty, dude!” Kiba laughed. </p><p>“Shut-” Naruto caught sight of Hinata and immediately stopped talking.</p><p>Hinata had just walked out the door leading to the stairwell and was coming right his way.</p><p>Naruto smiled at the sight of his childhood friend. Forgetting all about the conversation, he ran over to Hinata. Leaving Kiba, Rock Lee and even Sasuke confused.</p><p>“Hey! Hina-Chan!” Hinata looked up at the sound of her nickname. Once she spotted Naruto, she moved closer to the wall and stopped walking to wait for him to get to her, which didn’t take long.</p><p>Once he was up to Hinata, Naruto easily wrapped an arm around her shoulders.</p><p>“Hey, did you already change for gym? We should walk in together! Hopefully they’ll pair us up this time.” Naruto had to turn his head slightly to talk face to face with Hinata. Even if Hinata had her gaze elsewhere, usually the floor, Naruto always made sure to keep his attention on her when talking. </p><p>“Hi, Naruto. Uhm, no I haven’t changed yet.” She held up her gym bag to show Naruto. </p><p>“Oh, okay! I can wait for you if you want.” Naruto smiled and started walking with Hinata closer to the locker rooms, arm still slung around her.</p><p>“Ah, well.. if you don’t mind…” Hinata wasn’t sure if she wanted to walk in with Naruto, he caused a lot of attention and she didn’t need that. But, Naruto was her best friend and she wanted to be with him as much as she could.  </p><p>“‘Course I don’t mind! I’ll just wait by the door for you, ’kay?” Naruto brought the hand that was around Hinata’s shoulders down slightly to rub at her back in comfort. He could feel the nerves running off of her the moment he was close enough, though she did calm slightly when he wrapped his arm around her. </p><p>Hinata nodded. “Okay, I’ll um, I’ll be right back.” She hurried off into the girls locker room, her face growing a bit hot. </p><p>Naruto watched her go before turning to lean against the wall a few feet away from the girls locker room door. </p><p>“Who the hell was that?” Kiba said, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. He had just walked up with Rock Lee.</p><p>“Now that you mention it, I’ve seen Naruto-Kun around that girl a few times!” </p><p>Kiba turned to look at Rock Lee in confusion before turning to Naruto in utter shock. “Don’t tell me that’s your girlfriend!” </p><p>“What?! No! Hina-Chan’s just my friend from elementary school, are you crazy?!” </p><p>“Boys! Let’s hurry it up!” One of the gym teachers yelled. </p><p>Rock Lee immediately perked up at the voice. “Coming, Guy-Sensei!” </p><p>“We’ll talk more later!” Kiba eyed Naruto before running off with Rock Lee.</p><p>Naruto let out a nervous laugh as he watched them go. He scratched the back of his head in confusion, what was Kiba so upset about? Hinata and him weren’t dating. </p><p>The girls locker room door creaked open, and out came Hinata. “Hey, ready to go?” Naruto smiled easily.</p><p>She nodded, a small smile forming on her own face.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Iruka would definitely tell him that so Naruto would have a larger vocab. He’d let him curse eventually lol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Seventh Grade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! Sorry for the huge wait.. I had a major depressive episode :p but I’m back and hopefully I can finish up this fic soon!!! Love you all &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She didn’t have a crush. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a crush on Naruto, that’s be.. that’d be impossible. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and her were just friends, she heard Naruto tell his friends that and it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>true. </span>
  </em>
  <span>They barely saw each other anyways since Hinata wasn’t allowed over Naruto’s house and they only had one class together. How could she possibly have grown a crush on her best friend who is also one of the most popular kids in their school. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t like every time he complimented her or put an arm over her shoulder her face grew hot and her stomach felt weird. She definitely didn’t stare at Naruto's pretty face longer than she should or daydreamed about him instead of doing her homework. Definitely didn’t think about his cute whisker birthmarks, or his toothy smile, fangs out for everyone to see, fangs that she adored. It wasn’t like- it wasn’t like she was impatient throughout the day, like she couldn’t wait to finally see Naruto, couldn’t wait to hear his voice, his laughter. No, not at all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If she were one to curse, she would’ve let out a quiet </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘shit’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>as her thoughts came to a stop because she did, she did have a crush. On Naruto. The most amazing person in her life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She blushed just thinking about it. Smacking her face (gently) she tried to stop thinking about it while she finished getting ready for bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Laying in bed, her thoughts were of Naruto, of course. She couldn’t help it, it was Naruto’s fault, he was just so.. so kind and special. She felt wanted and needed around him, she felt like Naruto and her were the only people in the world. They were... they were the protagonists of the world. Of her world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t help it, she was smitten.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Knowing she had a crush didn’t help her in any way. She was way more skittish and jumpy when Naruto was around. Her words broke almost constantly but she’d learned to just keep talking and not stop and apologize. Naruto didn’t care, he’d told her that back in elementary school. It didn’t matter how long she took to say something, Naruto would wait patiently until she finished speaking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Currently, she was pacing through the hall, trying to get through a crowd of people. A fight or something was blocking half the hallway but she couldn’t think about being anxious about that when she was one minute from being late to her French class and said French class was still two halls away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Out of nowhere, a hand stuck out and hit her in the arm causing her to lose her footing. Her hands were full and so she couldn’t catch herself on anything. Panic began to set in her gut but then, an arm wrapped around her middle, keeping her up. “Hey!” A very familiar voice called over her head, angry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Watch where your hands are flapping, dude!” Naruto shouted over the crowd.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kid barely looked their way before waving his hand dismissively. “Sorry.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto huffed before looking down at Hinata. “Hey, you good?” He made sure she was standing straight before pulling his arms away and ruffling her hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto! Uhm, yeah.. t-thanks, I thought I’d fall for sure..” Hinata made no move to fix her hair, just stared up at Naruto and looked away a few times. She couldn’t keep eye contact, too flustered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good! Hey, isn’t class about to start?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes widened. “Shoot! Uh, thanks, s-see you later Naruto!” She quickly ran past the blonde and towards her class. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sat herself down in her usual place during lunch, under the tree near the corner of the field. It was always empty, only once or twice had another person been there but they hadn’t bothered Hinata so she didn’t mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes there were kids playing soccer or football out in the field. This time there was and once she sat down and began eating she looked over and noticed a mop of blonde hair running around the field, her heart sped up and she brought her knees up closer to her chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was running about, passing the football and running to catch it elsewhere. He had a wide grin stretched across his dirt smudged face, he’d fallen twice since she spotted him but he had easily picked himself up and continued playing with a laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His friends had laughed at him for falling and called out to him when they passed the ball. Hinata could hear Naruto laugh loudly a few times and honestly, watching Naruto have fun made Hinata smile. If she saw herself, she’d probably blush and try to stop smiling because she looked like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dork. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She watched a little while longer, moving her gaze to the other kids just to make it not so </span>
  <em>
    <span>obvious</span>
  </em>
  <span> who she was staring at stupidly. She finished up her food, packed up the containers and went to stand up when she heard something drop near her. She jumped and looked over, the ball. She looked up and oh, Naruto was running towards her. She blushed but didn’t move. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha, sorry abo- Hina-Chan!? Hey, I didn't know we shared a lunch period!” Ball forgotten, he walked closer to Hinata and smiled bright. Hinata couldn’t help but blush, Naruto was smiling at </span>
  <em>
    <span>her </span>
  </em>
  <span>like that, so full of joy. She noticed he’d left the ball for her as well and she was so embarrassingly happy over something stupid like that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Hina-Chan?” Naruto called, smile wavering slightly in confusion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Uh!” She racked her brain for what Naruto had said, she had totally forgotten. Oh right lunch periods. “Uhm. I didn’t k-know we shar-shared one either, Naruto. I h-haven’t seen you around.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t even blink at her stutter. “Yeah! So this is where you hang out during lunch?” He looked about quickly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-yeah. It’s.. it’s nice and um the flowers are actually growing in around the tree.” She pointed and Naruto titled his head to see. He gasped and crouched to touch the little sprouts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right! Wow! It is nice over here. What kind of flowers do you think these are?” He asked, genuinely curious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sat back down, next to the flowers and where Naruto was crouched. “Um I think they’re Violas..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like the instrument?” Naruto giggled as he poked carefully at the shy flowers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata smiled and giggled quietly, “Yeah.. like the instrument.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto started speaking to the plant like it was a baby and Hinata just listened and giggled at some of the things he said, her eyes stayed on Naruto, her smile wide and happy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, what’s your favorite?” Naruto turned to her, expression soft.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your favorite flower I mean.” He smiled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh” Hinata hummed in thought. “Verbascum’s I suppose..”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave her a funny look and laughed. “Wh-What kind of name is that? Ver.. Verbascum? I’ve never heard of those! I thought you were going to say roses or something.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She blushed. “They’re other name is Mullein! They, uh, symbolize courage, protection and h-health if I remember correctly..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s cool. It’s cool that you know all these flower facts and they’re names. I can’t remember what my favorite flower is called but I saw it in a book and thought it was super awesome!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I… I like reading about them.. they’re calming to look at. I’m sure the flower you like is pretty awesome, Naruto... Hey, maybe they’re Peony’s, I feel like you’d think those looked ‘super awesome’” she giggled as she repeated Naruto's phrasing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She watched as Naruto's eyes widened. “Hey! You’re totally right! What the- Hina-Chan! You- how’d you guess that?” He pointed a figure at her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She laughed and put her hands up in surrender. “I don’t know! I just- it’s the f-first thing that came to mind.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re so-” Naruto started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto! What the hell are you doing? C’mon!” Hinata looked over in the direction of the loud voice, a boy she sorta recognized jogging over with a frown. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, right!” Naruto hopped up, and went over to pick up the ball on the other side of Hinata. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned to Hinata. “See you, Hina-Chan!” He waved with his free hand and ran over to the boy that was coming their way. She watched them, the boy said something, Naruto rolled his eyes with a laugh and then handed the ball to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata stood there a moment. </span>
  <em>
    <span>So what? What was Naruto going to say? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bell had rung and most of the kids were running off to cars parked or walking with friends on their way home. Hinata had her earbuds in, her father had informed her that morning that he’d be picking her up from school. He gave no reason which scared her slightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Listening to music helped calm her as she waited up against a wall outside the school, bag strapped onto her back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Someone shook her shoulder, she jumped in shock and quickly pulled one of her earbuds out and turned towards the person to see who it was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey. Sorry for scaring you, I uh, I called out to you like, twice before shaking you, sorry.” He said, eyebrows turned downward in worry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook her head. “I-It’s f-fine.. I’m glad it’s j-just you, Naruto.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hummed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So.. uhm..” Hinata started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right. I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out? Get something to eat and maybe go to the carnival that’s in town? My dad gave me some extra cash and I thought..” he trailed off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes widened and she felt like she could cry because </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes she’d love to but she can’t. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Naruto. I-I wish I could but my father’s about to pick me up…” she looked down at her shoes, shoulders falling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh. That’s.. that’s okay! Maybe another time?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A car honked and Hinata looked over, it was her father. She looked back to Naruto. “Sorry, Naruto. I’ll.. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” She reluctantly turned away from Naruto and walked towards the car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She got into the back seat and tried her hardest not to look towards Naruto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who was that?” Her father asked, his tone suspicious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“J-Just a kid from my class, father.” She answered quietly as she buckled her seatbelt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You better not be dating any boys or interacting with people below you.” The car began moving.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She bit her lip. “Of course not, father.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good. Keep it that way.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Teehee if there r any haikyuu fans that recognized that ONE line ily and I had to take that line for myself bc really akaashi? We get it ur in love.. also kinda happy with this chap!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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